The present invention relates very generally to MEMS components, in the layer structure of which at least one diaphragm element is formed, which spans an opening in the layer structure and is attached via a spring structure to the layer structure.
With corresponding design of the diaphragm element and equipment with piezosensitive circuit elements for signal detection, such components may be used, for example, as pressure sensors or also as a microphone.
One particular advantage of piezosensitive MEMS microphone components is that—in contrast to capacitive MEMS microphone components—they may be equipped very easily with a “wake-up” functionality. They may thus be conceived very easily so that they only consume power if needed, i.e., for example, only if a specific sound level is exceeded. The power consumption of piezosensitive MEMS microphone components in the “always-on” operating mode is thus significantly less than that of capacitive MEMS microphone components.
The microphone sensitivity is generally dependent on the size of the microphone diaphragm, i.e., the larger the diaphragm area, the higher the sensitivity as well. However, with increasing diaphragm area, mechanical stresses also occur more strongly within the diaphragm, which corrupt the measuring signal. Such intrinsic mechanical stresses may be due to manufacturing or may also be attributed to temperature variations at the site of operation.